


Homecoming

by PrioritiesSorted



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Getting Together, Harry and ginny are good parents, Insecurity, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, parental meddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 03:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13778637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrioritiesSorted/pseuds/PrioritiesSorted
Summary: “James?” Teddy asked, attempting to look as innocent as possible.“You know, my son. About so tall,” Harry gestured vaguely, “red hair, been in love with you for around a decade now?”“Oh, that James.”





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> tbh this is spite fic after I plunged excitedly into the Jeddy fandom only to find that Harry was either a homophobe or fucking Malfoy and I'm not about either of those things

Ginny found her eldest son sitting on the stone step leading down to their garden, and pulling at a loose thread on his jumper. It was a habit he’d picked up from Teddy as a child, and Ginny smiled as she remembered a chubby little toddler demanding that Teddy change his hair. Teddy had always complied, chewing on his cuffs as his hair went from purple, to yellow, and back to the bright turquoise he’d favoured since he was a baby. She should have seen this coming, really. 

 

When the note arrived from Teddy, saying that he wouldn’t make it to dinner that night, Ginny hadn’t thought much of it. But James, who had been buzzing with nervous energy all day, had seemed to deflate, almost fleeing from the warmth of the kitchen.  _ So it’s finally happened, then,  _ Ginny had thought, though precisely what “it” was remained unclear. 

 

Ginny watched James wrap the navy blue wool around his fingers for a moment before she cleared her throat, 

 

“So, is there anything you want to tell me?” 

 

“No.” 

 

“Nothing about Teddy?” 

 

James continued to pick at the seams in his jumper. 

 

“And you?” 

 

James picked more vigorously at his jumper. Ginny made a mental note to ask her Mum for another. James had always looked good in blue. 

 

“And why he’d rather hide than come to dinner?” 

 

“I didn’t  _ do  _ anything!” James snapped, and Ginny raised an eyebrow. 

 

“Impressive. I almost made it ten years without hearing you say that.” James at least had the good grace to look sheepish for a moment, but remained sullenly silent, and Ginny was done tip-toeing around the subject. 

 

“Did you tell him you’re in love with him?” she asked, and James’s cheeks flushed pink as he stammered, 

 

“In lo- why would I- I’m not-”

 

“James.” 

 

Ginny liked to think that she had perfected her I-am-your-mother-do-not-argue-with-me stare before she'd even become a mother, and she knew herself to be the master of it now, because it took less than five seconds for James to ask, resigned, 

 

“How did you know?” 

 

Ginny sighed and bent down to sit on the step beside him. The spring air was brisk but not uncomfortable, and she was glad for the space to have this conversation. She’d been preparing for it since James was a pre-teen, but she was still somehow nervous. 

 

“I’m your mother, Jamie, I’ve known for longer than you have,” Ginny said softly, and James groaned.  

 

“Dad, too?” 

 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Your Dad wouldn’t notice an Erumpent Horn exploding under his nose.” 

 

James gave a reluctant huff of laughter, and Ginny felt the tight ball of nerves in her chest loosen a little. Even after twenty four years of parenting, her children still managed to throw new and stressful situations at her. She made a mental note to give her Mum a really big hug at the next family dinner. 

 

“He knows now, of course,” Ginny continued, “wanted to know what was up with you.” 

 

“So you  _ told  _ him?!” James exclaimed, horrified. 

 

“Of course I did. He’s over at Teddy’s right now.” 

 

“Merlin’s saggy left-” 

 

“So we’re going to get this story out of you both, one way or another. You might as well spill.” 

 

James looked for a second as if he was contemplating matricide, which Ginny understood, but then the fight went out of him. 

 

“It’s just…” he started, staring out into the twilight, then down at his frayed cuffs, avoiding her gaze, “so the thing is, right… I thought that, whatever happened, it would at least be clear. Worst case scenario he hexes my balls off and never speaks to me again; best case scenario he feels the same; most likely scenario he tries to let me down easy because he’s only ever seen me as his kid brother, and it’s a bit awkward for a while but I eventually get over it now that I know I’ve not got a chance. Except none of those things happened, and now I’ve got no idea what he’s thinking or what to do or if I’ve just ruined everything forever!” 

 

James had always tended towards the dramatic when he was upset, but there was something so pathetic in his voice as he buried his head in his hands that Ginny couldn’t bring herself to find it funny. 

 

“Well, I doubt you’ve ruined everything forever,” she said, giving his back a gentle rub. “That would be a pretty big ask.” 

 

“I dunno, I think maybe I managed it. He looked… he was horrified. I kissed him and he was horrified. Merlin, and I even thought- I thought for a moment that he- I mean- no, he kissed me back. He definitely kissed me back but then- then suddenly he was looking at me like… I don’t know. Then he stammered something about how he’d made a mistake and... he was gone.” 

 

Ginny fought very hard not to sigh. For a second, she wished Hermione was there, if only to have someone to roll her eyes at and say,  _ “boys”.  _ As it was, she took a deep breath before venturing, 

 

“Right. But did you actually, y’know,  _ talk  _ to him?” 

 

“I… no, not really.” James muttered. 

 

“Then you can’t know for certain what he feels. From what you’ve said it sounds like he feels something for you, too.” 

 

“No, Mum, you weren’t there.” James said, jerking up to pace around the garden. 

 

Ginny pushed away her anger: with James for being stubborn and surly, with Teddy for running away, with both of them for acting like the teenagers they no longer were. This needed a softer touch, even if that had never really been her strongest suit. 

 

“Look, James, I know there’s nothing worse than your Mum saying ‘I understand how you feel’, but I really, truly get it,” Ginny said, after a moment’s pause. “It’s how I felt about your father.” 

 

James waved her words away, 

 

“That’s different though, you were-” 

 

“I was a child when I fell in love with this skinny orphan who spent all his spare time at my house. He was practically family, my parents adored him. But he only ever saw me as the little kid with an awkward crush. So I tried to move on, dated a few people, but all the time I was still hoping against hope that he’d finally  _ see  _ me, the real me, that he’d realise I had grown up. And one day he did, but part of me was always afraid that he loved the idea of me more than he actually loved me. I knew he’d never purposely use me, but I couldn’t shake the idea that what he really wanted was to ‘officially’ be part of the family. Sound familiar?” 

 

James smiled a little, making his way back to the step and sitting back down next to his mother. He bumped his shoulder against hers. 

 

“Hey, I’ve only been in love with him since I was fifteen.” 

 

“Fifteen is still a child,” said Ginny, putting a comforting arm around him, “and anyway, you’ve been in love with him since you were twelve.” 

 

“Fuck.” 

 

* * *

 

Teddy was eating his sixth chocolate frog of the evening when Harry appeared in his fireplace. 

 

“Evening, Ted.” 

 

Teddy gaped at him, frozen in embarrassed terror. Harry had certainly seen him in worse states than he was currently in, (wearing only his boxers, socks, and a particularly threadbare jumper that had once been his father’s) but Teddy had also never been in said state because of Harry’s son. Teddy couldn’t help but think of the last time he had seen James, remembered the feel of his auburn hair between Teddy’s fingers, the intensity with which James had kissed him. He remembered the way James had nipped eagerly at his bottom lip, the way the breath had rushed out of his body. He remembered, too, the devastation, the confusion in James’s eyes as Teddy had pulled away. 

 

_ But Harry doesn’t know about that,  _ Teddy thought.  _ He’s just checking up on me because I missed dinner.  _

 

“So, about James,” said Harry. 

 

_ Fuck.  _

 

“James?” Teddy replied, attempting to look as innocent as possible. 

 

“You know, my son. About so tall,” Harry gestured vaguely, “red hair, been in love with you for around a decade now?” 

 

“Oh, that James.” 

 

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” 

 

Teddy wished he could retreat completely into his jumper like a tortoise. 

 

“Not really, no.” 

 

“So something did happen.” Harry’s green eyes twinkled with amusement at having caught Teddy out, and Teddy huffed, defeated. 

 

“Do you do this to your students as well?” Teddy asked as Harry shoved him over so he could sit on the sofa. 

 

“Oh, yeah. Constantly. Now come on, out with it.” 

 

“So James, um, James came over the other night and… okay, you’re his Dad so talking to you about this is weird, just for the record, but he, um, he sort of kissed me. I mean- we kissed. I mean- I didn’t make a move on him or anything but then he kissed me and I did kiss him back but I stopped it before anything… um… else...” 

 

Teddy suddenly found himself very short of breath, and Harry looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. Harry, the bastard, let him flounder for a few seconds before saying, 

 

“So, did you  _ want  _ him to kiss you?” 

 

“No! I mean…  _ yes  _ but… it’s complicated.” Teddy finished, pathetically. 

 

“Complicated?” 

 

“Well he’s  _ James,  _ isn’t he? He’s always been a kid to me, practically a little brother. And I know… I mean I was  _ aware  _ that he had a bit of a crush on me when he was a teenager, but I just assumed he’d grow out of it. When I went to Romania with Charlie I thought, well he’ll get over me now that I’m not around all the time, y’know? And I thought he did. I’ve been back for three years and I never suspected he still…” 

 

“But you wanted him to.” 

 

“I felt fucking  _ awful  _ about it. I left and he was this skinny seventeen year old, still a kid, but when I came back… it wasn’t immediate but it- it came on pretty quickly. I think because he was more like a mate, like an equal, he didn’t look up to me so much. It was… nice, until I realised I’d developed… y’know…” 

 

“Feelings?” Harry prompted, smiling. 

 

“Yeah. Feelings.” 

 

“So if you having feelings for him, and he has feelings for you, what’s the problem?” 

 

The problem had always been that Teddy didn’t know exactly what the problem was. Or, he did, but he had never been able to articulate it, even to himself. 

 

“It’s just… I’ve spent my whole life trying to protect him, to make sure he doesn’t get hurt but now… now I’m the one who could hurt him.” Teddy explained, weakly. It wasn’t everything, not even close, but it would have to do. 

 

“Do you intend to hurt him?” Harry asked.

 

“Of course not, but-” 

 

“But nothing, Ted. You’re both adults now, and you have been for a while. James is plenty old enough to make his own decisions and-” Harry paused for a moment, a sad smile on his lips, “and he wants you. The way I see it, the only way you can hurt him right now is by running away, by not giving him a chance.” 

 

“You’re right. I know you’re right but I… what if I do fuck it all up? It would be awful enough to lose him, but he’s not just anyone. If I lose him… I lose you, too.” 

 

Teddy could feel the tears pricking at his eyes as Harry pulled him into a hug. A couple of drops escaped, falling onto Harry’s shoulder as Teddy felt a kiss pressed to his hair. 

 

“Teddy, you will never lose me. Surely you know that by now.” 

 

He did know, somewhere deep down, somewhere underneath the fear and the doubt. Of all the people in the world, he knew that Harry would understand, would know how much of outsider her felt, despite the earnest efforts of the Potters, the Weasleys, and his grandmother. Still, he couldn’t quite bring himself to start down that particular rabbit hole, so instead he said, 

 

“I’m really too old to need this kind of advice.” 

 

Teddy felt Harry laugh, quietly, before saying, 

 

“It’s okay, Ted. I gave a pretty similar talk to your Dad when he was thirty seven so you’re actually doing well by comparison.” 

 

“Really?” 

 

“It’s why he made me your Godfather. I was a lot less nice to him, though.” Harry’s eyes filled with the particular kind of sadness that Teddy had come to associate with memories of the war, and Teddy almost didn’t want to ask, 

 

“What did you say?” 

 

Harry only smiled as he got up off the sofa. 

 

“That’s a story for another time, Ted. Right now dinner's getting cold and James is probably going spare. You ready to do this?” 

 

Teddy took a deep breath and looked up at his godfather. 

 

“Yeah. Yeah I think I am.” 

 

“Good,” said Harry, “you might want to get dressed first, though.” 

 

* * *

 

“What’s happening?” 

 

“Mum I am so hungry can’t we-” 

 

“Just  _ wait _ , Albus.” 

 

“They’ve been out there for ten minutes just  _ talking. _ ” 

 

“Which is exactly what they should have done in the first place.” 

 

“And now we’re suffering for it. I bet the roast potatoes have gone soggy.” 

 

“Shut  _ up,  _ Al.” 

 

“All right all right. But don’t you think it’s a bit creepy that we’re all sitting here spying on-” 

 

“They’re kissing! Mum!” 

 

“I can see that, Lily.” 

 

“Thank Merlin for that.” 

 

“Et tu, Dad?” 

  
  



End file.
